House to help parents of children in hospital

Home named for child who lived less than a month

Work continues on the Brayden House on Wednesday. The exterior of the house is made entirely out of wood salvaged from pallets. The home is named for Josh and Ashley Giambalvo’s son, who died after spending 26 days in the neonatal intensive care unit in 2008. A host family will permanently reside in the home and will invite families of children in the NICU to live there for the duration of the children’s time in the hospital.

Michelle Lepianka Carter | The Tuscaloosa News

By Ashley ChaffinStaff Writer

Published: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 12:04 a.m.

NORTHPORT | Brayden Giambalvo was born eight weeks premature. He lived less than a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at DCH Regional Medical Center, but his parents are working to create a legacy for Brayden after his death.

The Brayden House, which is being built in the Brown House community in Northport, will provide a home away from home for families of children in the NICU at DCH.

“We wanted to do it in his honor and have him leave a legacy,” said Josh Giambalvo, Brayden’s father. “If we wouldn’t have had Brayden and Brayden wouldn’t have passed away... I’m sure we wouldn’t have thought of the idea. It’s helping him and his name be able to leave a legacy.”

The Brown House LLC is a nonprofit that was started in Northport to benefit the community and kids in the area, said Kris Mills, executive director of the Brown House. The Brown House Community is made up of families who share this mission and have decided to live in this “intentional community,” which is across the street from West Circle housing development. Josh Giambalvo and his wife, Ashley, live in the community.

Mills, who is also a local builder and owns the company (re)build, is building the Brayden House. He said his reasons for working on the project are two-fold.

“It’s real obvious that it’s going to help people that are in need, so it’s hard not to get involved when you know needy people are going to benefit from it,” he said.

“Secondly, and probably more important for me, this is my community... and we’ve made a choice to basically take a loss by moving here and so has everyone else in this community — it’s a financially terrible decision to move here. So when you make those kind of decisions, you look at things differently. For us, we’re supposed to take on the desires of our community members and one of our community members lost a child. This is what he wants to do to help him overcome that loss and it is our duty as community members to participate in that desire with him.”

While Brayden was in the NICU, Giambalvo said he saw how difficult it was for families from out of town who had children in the NICU. James Hudson, another member of the community, spent eight days in the NICU with his son before taking him home.

Hudson said some of the difficulties families face are eating only out of a vending machine and sleeping in their cars or in the waiting room.

“While we were there we met a lot of families that were from all over the state that had to come here because Tuscaloosa is a regional hospital that has a NICU unit and not all hospitals do,” Hudson said. “We saw a need there and didn’t really know what to do with that. We were sitting around one night and thought if we could build something like the Ronald McDonald House but just for the NICU parents that’d be great.”

Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home away from home for families of children in the hospital at little or no cost to them, according to the Ronald McDonald House Charities website.

The mission of the Brayden House will be to provide housing and meals for parents of babies in the NICU at DCH at no cost to them. Hudson said the house will operate on a first-come, first-served basis with DCH.

Giambalvo said he believes the biggest benefit to the families will be financially because they will not have to worry about paying for a hotel or meals while away from home with their children.

A family will live in the Brayden House permanently, paying a subsidized rent that includes utilities, Hudson said.

“What we’re hope is there is going to be a ‘host family,’ who will have a room or two rooms or whatever they need,” he said. “The other side is two separate bedrooms — it will almost operate like each bedroom has their own key so we can service two families. At first, it will just be one family while we’re figuring out what we’re doing. We also get to impact a (host) family because we get to have a family move into the community, and they get the ministry and the service here by being the hands and feet inside the house.”

Mills said that because of the way the process has gone, it is hard to estimate a date they will be finished.

“We’re moving little slow and methodical but that’s becuse every step along the way we try to give the opportunity to participate,” he said. “First, we extend that within our community and then we kind of extend our radius as we go.”

He said working at a slow pace the Brayden House would be done in three months, but working at a fast pace it could be completed in just one.

<p>NORTHPORT | Brayden Giambalvo was born eight weeks premature. He lived less than a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at DCH Regional Medical Center, but his parents are working to create a legacy for Brayden after his death. </p><p>The Brayden House, which is being built in the Brown House community in Northport, will provide a home away from home for families of children in the NICU at DCH. </p><p>“We wanted to do it in his honor and have him leave a legacy,” said Josh Giambalvo, Brayden's father. “If we wouldn't have had Brayden and Brayden wouldn't have passed away... I'm sure we wouldn't have thought of the idea. It's helping him and his name be able to leave a legacy.”</p><p>The Brown House LLC is a nonprofit that was started in Northport to benefit the community and kids in the area, said Kris Mills, executive director of the Brown House. The Brown House Community is made up of families who share this mission and have decided to live in this “intentional community,” which is across the street from West Circle housing development. Josh Giambalvo and his wife, Ashley, live in the community. </p><p>Mills, who is also a local builder and owns the company (re)build, is building the Brayden House. He said his reasons for working on the project are two-fold. </p><p>“It's real obvious that it's going to help people that are in need, so it's hard not to get involved when you know needy people are going to benefit from it,” he said. </p><p>“Secondly, and probably more important for me, this is my community... and we've made a choice to basically take a loss by moving here and so has everyone else in this community — it's a financially terrible decision to move here. So when you make those kind of decisions, you look at things differently. For us, we're supposed to take on the desires of our community members and one of our community members lost a child. This is what he wants to do to help him overcome that loss and it is our duty as community members to participate in that desire with him.”</p><p>While Brayden was in the NICU, Giambalvo said he saw how difficult it was for families from out of town who had children in the NICU. James Hudson, another member of the community, spent eight days in the NICU with his son before taking him home. </p><p>Hudson said some of the difficulties families face are eating only out of a vending machine and sleeping in their cars or in the waiting room.</p><p>“While we were there we met a lot of families that were from all over the state that had to come here because Tuscaloosa is a regional hospital that has a NICU unit and not all hospitals do,” Hudson said. “We saw a need there and didn't really know what to do with that. We were sitting around one night and thought if we could build something like the Ronald McDonald House but just for the NICU parents that'd be great.”</p><p>Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home away from home for families of children in the hospital at little or no cost to them, according to the Ronald McDonald House Charities website. </p><p>The mission of the Brayden House will be to provide housing and meals for parents of babies in the NICU at DCH at no cost to them. Hudson said the house will operate on a first-come, first-served basis with DCH. </p><p>Giambalvo said he believes the biggest benefit to the families will be financially because they will not have to worry about paying for a hotel or meals while away from home with their children. </p><p>A family will live in the Brayden House permanently, paying a subsidized rent that includes utilities, Hudson said.</p><p>“What we're hope is there is going to be a 'host family,' who will have a room or two rooms or whatever they need,” he said. “The other side is two separate bedrooms — it will almost operate like each bedroom has their own key so we can service two families. At first, it will just be one family while we're figuring out what we're doing. We also get to impact a (host) family because we get to have a family move into the community, and they get the ministry and the service here by being the hands and feet inside the house.”</p><p>Mills said that because of the way the process has gone, it is hard to estimate a date they will be finished. </p><p>“We're moving little slow and methodical but that's becuse every step along the way we try to give the opportunity to participate,” he said. “First, we extend that within our community and then we kind of extend our radius as we go.” </p><p>He said working at a slow pace the Brayden House would be done in three months, but working at a fast pace it could be completed in just one.</p>